FOOD & STYLE: Sushi Roku

1401 Ocean Ave.

Santa Monica, CA 90401

310-458-4771

innovativedining.com

Price: $$$

By Michael Aushenker | Contributing Writer

While not the first Sushi Roku to open in Los Angeles (that honor goes to the original in West Hollywood), this seaside location has been a bedrock cornerstone of the beachside Santa Monica culinary scene for 17 years now, and with good reason: as far as sushi bars go, it’s the perfect confluence of food, drink and atmosphere.

Innovative Dining Group—also the parent company of Boa, Katana and Robata Bar—turns 20 this year. However, these purveyors of the sleek, streamlined Los Angeles restaurant experience are not content to rest on their laurels. As Innovative’s Director of Development and Operations Brent Berkowitz and Roku Santa Monica General Manager Andrew Ha reiterated during our dinner, this place likes to change up the menu seasonally to keep the Roku experience fresh and interesting for tourists and regulars alike.

Hence, Sushi Roku Santa Monica presented its summer menu … to mixed results.

Aesthetically, this menu encapsulates Sushi Roku’s knack for colorful, attractive presentation. Gastronomically, in some instances, it felt a bit style-over-substance.

Le’s start with the highlights. Roku’s summer menu starts out with a bang: Brussel Sprouts Chips ($9.50) are made of said sprouts quickly fried in truffle oil and salt and they’re irresistible. This may sound like a simplistic offering, but it totally clicked: We easily went through three rounds of this starter, which leaves a nice, savory edge of truffle taste on your tongue.

Fried Calamari ($12), served with a charred jalapeño glaze, also proves a mouthwatering affair. Even better though: Toro Sashimi ($42), its meat culled from the belly of the tuna (the fattiest part of the fish), comes topped with a layer of Ossetra sturgeon caviar and yuzu salt that gives these wafer-shaped morsels depth. Equally tasty: Tuna Tartare Phyllo Cups ($19), tiny individual rounds of ahi tuna served in a crust with yuzu guacamole and soy truffle, packing a strong, unspoken undercurrent of wasabe.

Our sliders plate arrived with two types of small sandwiches, and one of them proved outstanding; the other, passable. Wagyu Slider ($24) came layered in camembert (an unusual but welcome fromage for this type of mini-burger), crispy shitakes, onions and truffle mayonnaise. The other delicacy, Seabass Slider ($16) came encrusted in panko with a tonkatsu tartar. It tasted very fried and felt a bit underwhelming (even as this slider felt overwhelmed in the bun-to-meat ratio).

Roku handles pork and most seafood very well and nowhere is that more eloquently expressed than with Robata Bar Baby Back Ribs ($14), a nice crosshatching of pork loin rib bones glazed in a chipotle barbecue sauce. This may be Roku’s summer rock star.

On the down side, Sea Bream Sashimi ($19) felt a bit underwhelming and portentous, both in portions and preparation. Despite an herb vinaigrette and ume furikake to spice up the white fish, this plate proved largely unmemorable.

Also disappointing: the Kakuni. Braised for six hours, Kurobuta Pork Belly ($16) tasted dry, despite these porcine slices arriving marinated in a 10-year-old port with a pork reduction sauce and the surrounding won ton chips.

For me, the meal’s real nadir came near the end, in the form of the overwrought Gindara Black Cod With Sweet Miso ($24). Served on skewers, they surely looked dynamic, but after sampling them, they would be the last thing on the menu that I would re-order because the miso glaze overwhelms the fish, which already tastes too oversaturated. (To its credit, some at our table enjoyed it so perhaps I’m in the minority here.)

That miso sauce aside, sweets are where this summer menu springs to life, be it by dessert or libations. What Roku calls Ringo fulfills the dessert slot here: a marvelously sweet poached Fuji apple stuffed with a pecan-cranberry filling, with a side of chocolate hatcho miso mousse, cardamom gelato and a pair of pecan cookies; a relatively light and very fulfilling meal-closer (especially when accompanied by a cappuccino) designed by Jackson Miller.

Both cocktails introduced here—bright and fresh-tasting, if not particularly potent—make for rock solid summer beverages: the Lychee Sangria—packing pinot grigio, Soho lychee liquer, and lychee, pineapple and cranberry juices with a large bulb of alcohol-drenched lychee strung over the rim—is outstanding (nope, we couldn’t stop at just one glass); light, with a floral edge resembling rosewater. We also ordered several Lemongrass Refreshers, which combined Kai Lemongrass Ginger Sochu, fresh lime sour and that oh-so-LA-trendy coconut water to terrific effect.

The thing about this menu, though? It’s ephemeral, meaning certain items may either disappear or have seasonal ingredients swapped out by November.  Which is good: a restaurant that is always evolving and challenging itself. Given the overall quality of the epicurean delights here and the vibrant Japanese-flavored décor, Sushi Roku Santa  Monica, 17 years into a hopefully very long run, remains a class act.